Alonso leads dry German FP2

Fernando Alonso pipped Sebastian Vettel today in Friday Practice 2, as the track was dry for most of the session. Despite a brief rain shower at the start, the track quickly got back up to temperature, and slick tyres were used for the first time this weekend. Lewis Hamilton was forced to sit out most of the session, thanks to his crash in FP1.

Fernando Alonso was ahead of Sebastian Vettel in German FP2 today

In Friday Practice 1, the fastest lap was a 1.25.701. In contrast, Alonso’s fastest lap in FP2 was a 1.16.265, more than 9 seconds faster. Sebastian Vettel was 0.029 seconds slower in 2nd place. Felipe Massa and Mark Webber were 3rd and 4th, while the Mercedes drivers of Rosberg and Schumacher were 5th and 6th. Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg topped off the top 10.

Kamui Kobayashi was 11th, followed by Vitaly Petrov, Pedro de la Rosa and Adrian Sutil. Jenson Button was unable to keep up the pace from FP1, and was 15th. Vitantonio Liuzzi was 16th, followed by the two Toro Rossos of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

Timo Glock was again the quickest driver of the new teams, ahead of Jarno Trulli and Lucas di Grassi. Heikki Kovalainen was 22nd, and Bruno Senna was 23rd. Sakon Yamamoto was last, and 1.1 seconds slower than Senna.